Retired school teacher George Ronald can now access social welfare assistance from the comfort of his home thanks to the Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion (REACH) project team currently in Rotuma.

He will be getting the assistance at 74 years old after registering his name with the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation on Tuesday.

“This assistance will help me and my wife get on with our daily lives. It is only us here on the island as my daughter and grandchildren are in the Cook Islands,” he said.

He also qualifies for the $100 voucher assistance. Mr Ronald moved to the Cook Islands a long time ago after retiring from teaching in Fiji’s education system.

He was stuck in Rotuma when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Fiji.

“Life is in the land, and we must toil to keep ourselves alive,” he said.

“I was told to look after our church congregation here and that’s why I stayed back.”

“We live by donation given to us by the church and other means too but this will take off some of that burden.”

He said that it was important to access the various types of assistance provided by the Government.

Meanwhile, the REACH project is an initiative by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme aimed at providing Government and non-government services to remote communities.

It is funded by the Government of Japan.

Feedback: josefa.babitu@fijisun.com.fj